With the luxury of having won the first half, the Somerset Patriots were able to take their time in rebuilding a roster that had been decimated by players being picked up by affiliated teams as well as injuries. It also allowed them to not just make moves, but the right moves.

Somerset added three players prior to the start of the four-game road trip in Bridgeport on Friday, signing and activating versatile infielder Jeff Dominguez, former major league left-handed pitcher David Purcey and ex-big leaguer slugger Daryle Ward.

"It's good, it was much needed," said manager Brett Jodie of his team's new acquisitions.

"We were a little thin on arms with guys getting picked up, and we addressed that with a real good arm in Purcey … and then to get some big bats and skilled guys was good. We got a middle of the order-type bat in Ward, and then a guy like Dominguez that can switch hit and has some versatility."

But the big name of the trio is Ward, who played in 948 MLB games over the course of 11 seasons with the Astros, Dodgers, Pirates, Nationals, Braves and Cubs.

"Daryle can hurt you in any ballpark," Jodie said. "He's got years of experience, and we've tried to get him in different years, and it's a been a tough job, but it's good to have him on our side this year."

Since last playing in the majors with Chicago in 2008, the 39-year-old has been a coveted bat on the independent circuit. Last year, he hit .291 with 17 home runs and 54 RBI for the Lancaster Barnstormers before spending several weeks playing in Mexico this year prior to being released.

"I went home, took a couple months off and hung out with my family. I wanted to come back and play and play somewhere different. I thought Somerset would be nice, to come here and be a bat for them so they have a good shot at competing in the playoffs. Not that they couldn't already, their team is really good. But it always helps to have a little bit more."

Ward, who had been keeping in touch with Somerset's director of player personnel, Jon Hunton, via social media, had been trying to join the Patriots for quite some time before the deal was finally completed.

"Wherever you go, you want to go to the best place where you have the best chance of winning," he said. "But just to come here, it's great. This team's already been good for a couple of years, so playing on the other side and playing against these guys, I kind of didn't like them because they were so good. It's really good to be a part of it now. Now, I hope other teams don't like me because I'm here."